BEACHWOOD, Ohio — The head football coach for Brooklyn City Schools is stepping down. His resignation comes days after reports of the team using antisemitic and racist language during a game at Beachwood High School Friday night.
In a letter to families, Beachwood Schools Superintendent Dr. Robert Hardis detailed behavior reported during the conference rival matchup. He said Brooklyn’s team was repeatedly using the word “nazi” to call out a play. The officials and Brooklyn athletic director were both notified, and during half time, the Brooklyn Hurricanes head coach apologized and agreed to change the play call.
Hardis said the term was not used during the second half, but late in the game, the home team reported several Brooklyn players using a racial slur throughout the night.
The superintendent issued the following statement on behalf of the Beachwood Schools leadership:
“Antisemitic and racist speech are unacceptable in any setting. They are counter to the norms and expectations we teach our students. They violate the rules of sportsmanship agreed to by every Chagrin Valley Conference school district. We are in contact with the Brooklyn Schools administration and trust they will address this situation in a manner that demonstrates accountability. They have been responsive, appropriately concerned and apologetic. We are confident that the actions of a few are not representative of Brooklyn Schools nor the Brooklyn community.”
Brooklyn City Schools leaders quickly addressed the situation in their own statement:
“On behalf of everyone in the Brooklyn City Schools family, we offer our sincerest apologies to the members of the Beachwood football family and school community for the hurtful, insensitive, and entirely inappropriate choice of language used during the first half of this past Friday night’s football game.
"Our football coaching staff expressed their regret to the Beachwood football family immediately during the contest, and took corrective measures in the second half, in finishing the contest. While to the knowledge of the Brooklyn City Schools, this language was not directed to any single individual, the choice in using it at all, was utterly and absolutely wrong.”
Monday, the district accepted the resignation of Brooklyn Head Football Coach Tim McFarland, effective immediately, and issued the following statement:
“Coach McFarland expresses his deepest regret about the matter, and offers his sincerest apologies to the Beachwood and Brooklyn School Communities. The Brooklyn City Schools echoes this regret, and apology as well. As stated, this hurtful and harmful speech will not be tolerated, in any form, by Brooklyn City Schools leadership. While to the district’s knowledge the language was not directed to any single individual, the Brooklyn City Schools acknowledges that using such offensive language in the first place was utterly and absolutely wrong.”
The incident also drew criticism from Beachwood’s city and religious leaders. Mayor Justin Berns and the Beachwood City Council issued a joint statement, saying in part:
“We strongly condemn the racist and antisemitic language used by Brooklyn’s football team at Friday’s game in Beachwood. There is no place for this sort of behavior, and we invite Brooklyn’s city leaders to join us in condemning it.”
The incident happened days before the holiest day in Judaism. Prior to Yom Kippur observations, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland posted its own statement on social media:
“[We are] Disgusted and hurt to hear about the hateful behavior by a local high school team this weekend. We call for all those responsible for this blatant display of hate be held accountable for their actions, especially those who are supposed to be shaping the next generation.”
Beachwood Schools said it wasn’t the first time its student-athletes had been subjected to antisemitic and racist speech. In 2019, parents there told News 5 students heard “white power” chants and saw confederate flags during a game at Grand Valley.
The Grand Valley superintendent apologized for the incident and told News 5 that the parent who triggered it had been banned from campus. He said the district planned to work toward diversity training.
In light of the most recent incident, Beachwood Schools said it will be working closely with the Chagrin Valley Conference to address antisemitism and racial slurs. It also plans to offer support to anyone who needs it and assist in repairing any “damage done by the actions of Brooklyn’s football team.”
“This is not the first time Beachwood student-athletes have been subjected to antisemitic and racist speech,” the statement said. “We always hope it will be the last.”
Brooklyn City Schools said it’s choosing to learn and grow from the experience.
“The district has been contacted by the Anti-Defamation League of Ohio, who among others, we will hope to use as a resource for our school district going forward to promote understanding and tolerance,” district leaders said in a statement Monday.
